Abstract:
I will talk about some of the classic problems in the calculus of variations, and describe some of the mathematics which was developed to solve them. We will begin with the Greeks and end with some of the tantalizing problems of today.

This lecture was given by the 2019 Abel Laurate Karen Keskulla Uhlenbeck at The University of Oslo, May 22, 2019 and was part of the Abel Prize Lectures in connection with the Abel Prize Week celebrations.

Program for the Abel Lecture 2019
1. "Some Thoughts on the Calculus of Variations" by Abel Laureate Karen K. Uhlenbeck, University of Texas at Austin, USA
2. "Solitons in Geometry" by professor Chuu-LianTerng, UC Irvine
3. "Limits, Bubbles, and Singularities: An introduction to the fundamental ideas of Karen Uhlenbeck" by professor Robert Bryant, Duke University
4. "An Attempt to Visualise Minimal Surfaces and Maximum Dimensions" by Matt Parker, Standupmaths